'Nanny Ogg is very worried. Quite snappish. She says it needs three of us to find Granny.'
'Well, I-
'And Granny's taken the box, whatever that means,' said Agnes.
'The one she keeps in the dresser?'
'Yes. Nanny wouldn't tell me much about what was in it.'
Magrat opened up her hands like an angler measuring a medium-sized fish.
'The polished wooden box? About this size
'I don't know, I've never seen it. Nanny seemed to think it was important. She didn't say what was in it,' Agnes repeated, just in case Magrat hadn't got the hint.
Magrat clasped her hands together and looked down, biting her knuckles. When she looked up her face was set with purpose. She pointed at Oats.
'You find a bag or something and empty into it all the stuff in the top drawer over there, and take the potty, and the little truck, oh, and the stuffed animals, and the bag of nappies, and the bag for used nappies, and the bath, and the bag with the towels, and the box of toys, and the wind-up things, and the musical box, and the bag with the little suits, oh, and the woolly hat, and you, Agnes, find something we can make into a sling. You came up the back stairs? We'll go down the same way.'
'What do we need a sling for?'
Magrat leaned over the crib and picked up the baby, wrapped in a blanket.
'I'm not going to leave her here, am I?' she said.
There was a clatter from the direction of Mightily Oats. He already had both arms full, and a large stuffed rabbit in his teeth.
'Do we need all of that?' said Agnes.
'You never know,' said Magrat.
'Even the box of toys?'
'Verence thinks she might be an early developer,' said Magrat.
'She's a couple of weeks old!'
'Yes, but stimulus at an early age is vital to the development of the growing brain,' said Magrat, laying baby Esme on the table and shuffling her into a romper suit. 'Also, we have to get on top of her hand-eye co-ordination as soon as possible. It's no good just letting things slide. Oh, yes... If you can bring the little slide, too. And the yellow rubber duck. And the sponge in the shape of a teddy bear. And the teddy bear in the shape of a sponge.'
There was another crash from the mound around Oats.
'Why's the box so important?' said Agnes.
'Not important as such,' said Magrat. She looked over her shoulder. 'Oh, and put in that rag doll, will you? I'm sure she's focusing on it. Oh, blast... the red bag has got the medicines in it, thank you... What was it you asked me?'
'Granny's box,' Agnes hinted.
'Oh, it's... just important to her.'
'It's magical?'
'What? Oh, no. Not as far as I know. But everything in it belongs to her, you see. Not to the cottage,' said Magrat, picking up her daughter. 'Who's a good girl, then? You are!' She looked around. 'Have we forgotten anything?'
Oats spat out the rabbit. 'Possibly the ceiling,' he said.
'Then let's go.'
Magpies flocked around the castle tower. Most magpie rhymes peter out at around ten or twelve, but here were hundreds of birds, enough to satisfy any possible prediction. There are many rhymes about magpies, but none of them is very reliable because they are not the ones the magpies know themselves.